Government & politics — Antigua and Barbuda

• "antiguo" is Spanish for "ancient" or "old"
• the island was discovered by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1493 and, according to tradition, named by him after the church of Santa Maria la Antigua (Old Saint Mary's) in Seville
• "barbuda" is Spanish for "bearded" and the adjective may refer to the alleged beards of the indigenous people or to the island's bearded fig trees

• history: several previous; latest presented 31 July 1981, effective 31 October 1981 (
• The Antigua and Barbuda Constitution Order 1981) amendments: proposed by either house of Parliament; passage of amendments to constitutional sections such as citizenship, fundamental rights and freedoms, the establishment, power, and authority of the executive and legislative branches, the Supreme Court Order, and the procedure for amending the constitution requires approval by at least two-thirds majority vote of the membership of both houses, approval by at least two-thirds majority in a referendum, and assent to by the governor general; passage of other amendments requires only two-thirds majority vote by both houses; amended 2009, 2011, 2018

• chief of state: King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor General R
• odney WILLIAMS (since 14 August 2014) previous chief of state: Queen ELIZABE
• Prime Minister Gaston BROWNE (since 13 June 2014) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the governor gener
• al on the advice of the prime minister elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general

Description

bicameral Parliament consists of: Senate (17 seats; members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and leader of the opposition; members served 5-year terms) House of Representatives (19 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 5-year terms; in addition, 1 ex-officio seat is allocated for the attorney general and 1 seat for the speaker of the House - elected by the House membership following its first post-election session)

Elections

Senate - last appointed on 17 February 2023 (next appointments in 2028) House of Representatives - last held on 18 January 2023 (next to be held in March 2028)

Election Results

Senate -

Composition

• men 10, women 7, percent of women 41.1% House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - ABLP 47.1%, UPP 45.2%, BPM 1.5%, independent 5.2%
• seats by party - ABLP 9, UPP 6, BPM 1, independent 1;

Composition

men 16, women 1, percent of women 5.9%;

Note

total Parliament percent of women 23.5%

• highest court(s): the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is the superior court of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States; the ECSC - headquartered on St. Lucia - consists of the Court of Appeal - headed by the chief justice and 4 judges - and the High Court with 18 judges; the Court of Appeal is itinerant, travelling to member states on a schedule to hear appeals from the High Court and subordinate courts; High Court judges reside in the member states, with 2 assig
• ned to Antigua and Barbuda judge selection and term of office: chief justice of Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court appointed by the Her Majesty, Queen ELIZABETH II; other justices and judges appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission; Court of Appeal justices appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65; High Court judges appointed fo
• r life with mandatory retirement at age 62 subordinate courts: Industrial Court; Magistrates' Courts

• Antigua Labor Party or ABLP [Gaston BROWNE]
• Barbuda People's Movement or BPM [Trevor WALKER]
• Democratic National Alliance or DNA [Joanne MASSIAH]
• Go Green for Life or GGL [Owen GEORGE]
• United Progressive Party or UPP [Harold LOVELL]

• yes residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years

ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, Petrocaribe, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

embassy

the US does not have an embassy in Dominica; the US Ambassador to Barbados Linda S. TAGLIALATELA is accredited to Dominica

chief of mission

Ambassador Sir Ronald SANDERS (since 17 September 2015)

chancery

3216 New Mexico Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016

telephone

[1] (202) 362-5122

FAX

[1] (202) 362-5225

Email address and website

• embantbar@aol.com
• https://www.antigua-barbuda.org/Aghome01.htm

consulate(s) general

Miami, New York